Doug Pederson, Nick Foles will forever be special to Philly

The Philly Special was more than just a play that helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl, beating that dynasty from New England 41-33 in Super Bowl LII.

Yes, the Philly Special helped make Philly special, playing a key role in the victory. And, yes, it will live forever in Eagles history and Super Bowl lore as perhaps one of the greatest plays of all time, one that led to Nick Foles scoring a touchdown to become the only quarterback to ever catch a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl.

The play revealed something else, however.

It gave us a glimpse inside the relationship between head coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Nick Foles.

Foles came to the sideline with the Eagles facing a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 38 seconds left in the first half.

He told his coach he wanted to run the “Philly Philly.” Pederson knew he meant Philly Special, and, after a second or so of processing the moment, said, “Let’s go.”

“The great thing about Doug is he’s always going to listen,” said Foles. “It just came to me. It just felt like the right time. It’s ultimately his decision so he can say no, but that’s the great thing about him. He has confidence in his players, he has confidence in me. You can see a little insight into our relationship. There’s a lot of trust, a lot of faith, and it was really cool to go out in that moment and execute it and get a touchdown right there.”

Plenty could have gone wrong with the Philly Special, since it required a direct snap to rookie running back Corey Clement, who had to make a pitch to tight end Trey Burton who then had to make a decision where to throw the ball. Foles was the first option and he was wide open after coming free off the edge of the line.

“I just think it shows the trust that we have as quarterbacks and the trust that they have in me to call that play and the guys to execute it,” said Pederson. “It was the right time at the right moment, and it will be a pretty famous play I think now will be talked about for a long time.”

The trust and faith between Pederson and Foles developed while Foles was still playing quarterback at the University of Arizona. Pederson was Andy Reid’s quarterback coach at the time. Pederson came away so impressed that he convinced the Eagles’ hierarchy at that time to take Foles, which they did in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, the 88th player taken overall that year.

“Coach Pederson is the one who drafted me," said Foles. "He was the only coach who flew down to (Foles’ hometown in) Texas and worked me out. I was only worked out by one team, and that was by coach Pederson. Coach (Andy) Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles took a chance on me.”

That chance paid off big time when Foles was named the Super Bowl MVP following a 28-for-43 passing day against the Patriots for 373 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and a 106.1 passer rating.

Foles basically had two regular season games to get ready for the playoffs. He went 2-0 in them. He threw four touchdowns in a win over the Giants, but struggled mightily in a win over the Raiders. He looked bad in nine snaps in a meaningless season ender against the Cowboys.

That is when the relationship really kicked up a few notches, and Foles shined in the playoffs, never posting a passer rating below 100 in the three-game run to the title.

“Yeah (the relationship) did (intensify), because he now became the starter,” said Pederson. “Having that familiarity with him helps and sort of understanding how he thinks and what he likes and things of that nature. But yeah, our relationship is — it's strong, obviously. We probably didn't have that same communication that Carson and I had. Carson was constantly talking with me about the game plan and stuff, and Nick is more just call the play and let-me-execute-the-play-type of a guy.

“But as we got more comfortable and as he got more comfortable with the guys, you could see his confidence just coming out each and every week and those are the things that I knew he had in him, and we saw it as a staff these last couple months.”

The Eagles had a bye week for the opening round of the playoffs after earning the NFC’s top seed based on their 13-3 record. Pederson and his staff had an extra week to review every snap Foles took in his NFL career, even if it meant grinding even harder into the darkest hours of the night to make sure no stone was left unturned.

Pederson ultimately found what made Foles successful, especially during that magical 27 touchdown-two interception season in 2013, and learned what Foles didn’t do so well, especially during his time in exile in St. Louis and Kansas City.

It all boiled down to the read-pass option that Foles did so well for former coach Chip Kelly in 2013. Except Kelly was different than Pederson. Kelly wanted to control everything whereas Pederson believes in his players and allows them to play free, to give opinions and offer suggestions.

Pederson is also something else.

“Doug’s just a genuine person, a great coach to play for because he’s genuine,” said Foles. “I’ve really enjoyed playing for Doug. I enjoyed it as a rookie when he was my quarterbacks coach and really enjoyed it with him has my head coach.”

Having a chance to play for Pederson again is one thing that drew Foles back to the Eagles in the offseason, never knowing at the time he would help author the Philly Special, a play that delivered exactly what its name entails.

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